Saturday, December 31, 2011

Rode 19 miles on the Montour Trail with R, going from the Ridgewood Drive Trailhead to the Bebout Road construction site. Then we stopped at FarmHouse Coffee in a bit of a drizzle for coffee and red velvet biscotti (excellent!), and rode back to the Ridgewood Drive Trailhead.

This was the latest in the season that I've ever been able to ride through the National Tunnel, usually the floor gets icy and it's problematic. We got to see the construction in progress at Morganza Road, Georgetown Road, and Bebout Road, and it looks like there's new cement and rebar at all three sites, maybe the mild weather has helped them along.

Today's 19 miles puts my annual mileage at 4511, which is a totally excellent number for the year.

I attribute the mileage to my support on the home front and the support of my bike-budz, my thanks go out to K, R, M, G, M, J, C, S, and S. And Kurt.

The annual mileage also means I have 6000 miles on my Surly LHT drivetrain, so I'm considering a new crankset/chain/cassette in the springtime.

Friday, December 30, 2011

A long stream of white lights added to Bethlehem’s many holiday illuminations Thursday night.

The lights were on the front of more than 300 bicycles rode by cyclists paying tribute to one of their own who was struck and killed by a car while pursuing his passion.

The cyclists rode past the spot on the Fahy Bridge where city resident Patrick Ytsma was struck by a car while riding his bicycle Dec. 4. The 53-year-old architect died four days later.

“It’s enormously touching,” Ytsma’s wife, Judith Parr, told the cyclists as they wrapped up their ride at Payrow Plaza. And Parr had another message for the crowd: “Keep on riding. Pat would want you to keep on riding.”

The other speakers at the Patrick Ytsma Ride of Respect adamantly agreed that Ytsma would want them to keep riding their bicycles. But some said it frightened them to know they could still be at risk even if they are strict practitioners of bicycle safety, as Ytsma was regarded to be.

I really appreciate that so many riders came out on a dark, cold night and represented so well.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

I had been out of town for a few days which kept me off the bike, but gave me a looking at all the bicyclists in Sadik-Khan's New York City. There are indeed a lot more bicyclists out there, and - in general - they're moving and advancing in the desired direction while the cars are stuck in traffic. There's a great variety of bicycles and bicyclists, of course, and the two surprises were that a lot of Chinese-food delivery bikes are electric-assist, and that the gasoline-powered mopeds of the 1970s have been replaced by quite a few electric-only mopeds.

Rude 27 miles in 38F tonight, a very nice day. Started at the Bastille and rode around the Casino and the Stadia to the 40th Street Bridge. Took Butler St. and Railroad St. to the Cork Factory and the Strip Trail and rode to the Point. There was a fence across the trail at the location shown below, it was there the last time I was here and I'm not sure what they're trying to accomplish. The fence did not seem to present a barrier to anybody's movement.

Rode the Mon Whorf Trail and surfaced near the Smithfield St. Bridge, and took the Jail Trail to the Hot Metal Bridge. I rode the (recently re-opened) Baldwin Borough Trail to almost the Glenfield Bridge, and then reversed northbound.

Took the SouthSide Trail and the Station Square Trail, enjoying the full measure of daylight (sunset today at 5:01 PM, oh yeah!) and the Ft. Pitt Bridge. As I descended off the Ft. Pitt bridge by the blockhouse and crossed Point State Park, (which is a great speedy transition, you catch a little bit of air in the descent) another cyclist came across the Portal Bridge and we were pretty much a DAT, he was in just front of me and I chased him up the Ft. Duquesne Bridge, it was great to have an unexpected sprint and very effective to have a rabbit to set the pace. This may have all been internal dialogue, who knows if he even realized I was behind him.

Monday, December 26, 2011

12/26/11 29m 2h23m 37F

Started today's ride at the Bastille. As I was gathering my bike stuff from the disarray in my car, a gentleman riding a beautiful Rivendell Atlantis stopped by and introduced himself as F., and then he asked if I was the blogger he'd been reading.

That was an interesting moment, I guess somebody does read this (and now I've met him). His bicycle was extremely cool, it was outfitted just the way an Atlantis should be - leather saddle bag, dynamo, half-shelf rack on the front, cool bell. It was a very pleasant treat to meet him, he's a very nice gentleman.

I started my ride late today, I kept waiting for the temperatures to peak and inevitably I scheduled procrastinated myself into the hours of darkness again. (Although we are pleased to note that each day brings a skosh more daylight.)

Rode from the Bastille around the Casino and out to Millvale (some improvements noted at the ends of the Millvale Connector), and I took the 40th Street Bridge across the Allegheny.

I looked at the time and the sun and my front light and decided to stop at a convenience store for AA batteries for my front light, which turned out to be a good move. I continued on Butler Street around to Washington Blvd, then rode Beechwood Blvd as the sun set. Traffic was pretty light. Took Forbes and S. Braddock into Frick Park in the darkness, which was kind of fun.

As I rode Nine Mile Run Trail down to the river I was surprised that some sort of work seems to be going on in the lower section, just below the real estate development - I'm not sure if they're adding more earth to widen/balance the trail, or soaking it with river water and then levelling out the mud, but there's stuff going on there.

Not much ambient light, just a sliver of moon through a thin overcast. Took Duck Hollow Trail to Second Avenue, Second Avenue to the Jail Trail, and paused at the Hot Metal Bridge to check in with the home front. Something was awry with my phone, so I ditched my plan to extend my ride the SouthSide trail and went north on the Jail Trail.

Took a picture of the Point State Park Christmas Tree from the Portal Tunnel, which is getting a design review and possible rework according to today's Post-Gazette.

29 miles in 2h23m, 37F. An excellent ride, I wanted to keep going but the darkness and the phone snafu suggested prudence.

Monday, December 19, 2011

12/19/11 #245 27m 43F

Stopped at REI on the way out to pick up a can of BigAir (used my last one Saturday) and also picked up a Planet Bike BRT Strap, a reflective blinking LED strap that I'm putting on the back of my helmet. I saw a rider with one a few days ago and it seems like a good idea.

Started riding at the Bastille and intended to ride into the neighborhood and climb up to the Allegheny Observatory in Riverview Park. My initial navigation was poor, I missed a turn and climbed a hill to reach a point at which I could see where I was supposed to be, and inevitably there was a valley between present-position and desired-position.

I really disliked descending and climbing back up, I took it as a lesson to get the nav right the first time.

It was quite warming to start out climbing, and I was aware of my lungs as I climbed the first (unnecessary, wrong) hill.

Once I got on the right road, Woods Run Avenue, it was a more civilized serpentine climb to the top; nothing character building, just a good, long climb. The view from the top was great, and it surprised me how many people were walking with their dogs to the small dog park at the summit.

Departing the Observatory the descent went as planned, it was refreshingly brisk, rode Perrysville Ave. to a steep descent on Milroy Street (first time I remember S-turning on a descent to stay in control) and then via East Street. I noticed my rear tire was feeling squishy and under-inflated, so I decided to deviate to the nearest bike shop to use a floor pump.

I took the Ninth Avenue (Rachel Carson) Bridge to the Strip District Trail, the Ft. Pitt Bridge and Bingham Street to Thick Bikes. They kindly let me use their floor pump and I pumped the rear tire up to 85psi and got back on the bike. This was the tire where I'd recently added a tire liner and a Slime tube in hopes of preventing future flats.

I continued south, past SouthSide Works to almost-Sandcastle, and when I turned north I noticed the rear tire was quishy again. I rode it to SouthSide REI and the bike mechanics took it right into the shop. Several pieces of glass had penetrated my tire strip and my Slime tube, and they said it was time for a new tire. They took really good care of me, I have no complaints.

I am really disappointed in the performance of the Slime tube and the tire liner. It took me three weeks to get a flat, which was not the promise. Every bike mechanic I've discussed this (after my purchase) recommends not getting involved with Slime tubes, for reasons varying from increased rotating weight to the goo not sealing leaks but making a mess of the interior casing. I won't do that again.

Back on the bike and into the dark, rode the Station Square trail. I came upon one fellow walking, I think my blinky blinded him, he stopped walking and held his hands up to his eyes until I passed. I did notice an improved ride due to decreased rolling resistance with the tire liner and slime gone.

I took the Ft. Pitt Bridge, the Ft. Duquesne Bridge, and back to the car. Got off the bike at 6.20 pm, which is kind of dark for riding these days.

It didn't go as planned, but it was a very nice ride. The GPS track was not very accurate, I've revised it a bit.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Ride 7 miles on Pittsburgh trails in 35F. I rode with the Grupetto Pittsburgh for the first time, the ride was planned to go from the Bastille up to Observatory Hill, which is a route I've recently become interested in, and also it's always good to meet a group of local riders, especially a group that's riding in 35F.

Nice people, strong riders, friendly spirits. Unfortunately the group had a number of flat tires exceeding the number of spare tubes, so the ride was cut short and we'll do that route another day.

The ride was still good. Saw this beautiful bike parked outside of REI when we stopped for tubes:

It's a Mundo cargo bike by Yuba and it's a thing of beauty. I've seen XtraCycles and BigDummies before but this takes the prize, I don't think I've ever seen such a long cargo platform.

Later in the ride we doubled back to Thick Bikes for help in diagnosing a persistent flat tire. I think the best evaluation of a bike shop is what happens when you're not a regular customer and you walk in on Saturday afternoon with a flat tire. They were excellent, took it right into the shop, diagnosed and fixed the problem (sliver of glass embedded in the tire), reasonable charge.

I really enjoyed walking around the stop, and they had a lot more in the way of bike stuff than I would have expected. It's really a well-stocked store. They had the biggest display of Ortlieb that I've seen outside of Boston, they had Minnehaha bags, nice shop. I saw a Surly Cross-Check that was painted in what looked like Bianchi green (aka Celeste), that was a bit surprising. I was really impressed with Thick Bikes.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

No riding today; rainy 55F, and other things to do. Looking forward to a good forecast for tomorrow.

There's only a few projects remaining to complete the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) and realize Dan Onorato's Tom Murphy/Linda Boxx' vision of a trail from DC to Pittsburgh; there's the Sandcastle/Keystone Metals segment (debut 2012) and the Mon Whorf / Jail Trail connection at the Smithfield Street Bridge. (There are also efforts to improve/complete existing segments - McKeesport, Southside/AEO; and there are also initiatives to extend the GAP along the Ohio River to Beaver, and along the Allegheny River to Freeport.)

Bike-Pgh.org brings news that the permit request documenting the design has been submitted to the Army Corps of Engineers, and page 7 of that PDF presents a depiction of what the project will look like.

Click the image below to embiggen in a new window. The perspective is from the Smithfield Street Bridge, Station Square Side, looking toward Downtown; the Ft. Pitt Bridge is off to the left.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Rode 35miles in 40F, running some errands by bicycle rather than in a car. This was utility cycling, Serious Cycling with a Purpose damn it, so I tried hard not to enjoy it but I screwed up and had a great ride.

I've had some problems recently using my helmet cover to keep my head warm, it's essentially a shower cap that builds its own moisture zone and it hasn't been effective, I've ended up with salt burning my eyes. Today I dug out one of last winter's new geegaws, a Halo Anti-Freeze, and it made for a much more pleasant ride.

I started at the Manchester Bastille, and rode the trails to Millvale, took the 40th Street Bridge, Butler Street to the 60th Street bridge, and then Main Street in Sharpsburg and Freeport Road to the Water Works complex.

Stopped to run my errand, which was a pickup at Barnes and Noble. Currently BikePgh has a forum theme on whether stores are permitting bicycles inside, I can report that I had no problem bringing my bike into B&N, a quick right turn inside the double doors and there was a place to park the bike. I did not ask permission, because I strive to not ask questions that I don't want to hear answers to.

My next errand was in Squirrel Hill, so I stopped enroute at Performance Bikes in Bakery Square and bought some more SmartWool socks, they usually only have a few pairs in my preference, so I scored two pair and got back on the road.

Rode over to Squirrel Hill, enjoyed the climb, and then I really enjoyed the descent out of Squill on Forbes. At Frick Park I was surprised to see a significant sheet of ice in the gutter for about a hundred yards.

Took the Nine Mile Run Trail to the Duck Hollow Trail, and on the Duck Hollow trail I was surprised to see another of the new trail markers (see above). I'm glad to see they're staking out the perimeter trails. I hope to see 10- and 20-mile markers on the GAP.

The sun was setting so I took Second Avenue to the Jail Trail. There's a lot of cyclists out on the Jail Trail at sunset sporting some really effective lighting rigs, I was really impressed. I think I passed by local commuter and bike-guru Kordite in the dark.

As I was crossing into Point State Park I saw a labor protest at Gateway Center, about 25 people chanting What Do We Want? A contract / When do we want it? Now! I wanted to stop and see what it was about, but it was dark and I needed to wrap up the ride.

It was seriously dark as I came across the Ft. Duquesne Bridge and proceeded along the Casino to the Bastille. At one point, I was fairly blind in terms of forward visibility because of a flood light in one of the industrial yards, and I almost intercepted a bike Ninja — black clothes, no reflectors, and no lights. Fortunately, I was able to hear him talking on his cellphone, and I pulled over to the side and slowed down just before he appeared out of the glare.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Rode 21 miles in 1h42m at 40F around the city. Started at the Bastille, rode around to the 31st Street Bridge, and stopped at Espresso A Mano for a cafe-a-lait, a blueberry muffin, and some sort of a fruit-nut-pastry wrap; they were all excellent. The barista's handiwork at E-a-M is always impressive, which is in keeping with their "a mano" (by hand, artisanal) claim.

Saw a poster about Mr. Roboto celebrating the upcoming anniversary of Beethoven's birthday (12/16) with music by Burnout Warcry with collaborations by Ian Bonnet, Matt Wellins, and Brad Kline. Other performers are Michael Johnsen & Margaret Cox, Mousy Razor, and Ken Kaminski. (facebook). I'm glad to see people remembering Ludwig's birthday.

Rode around Lawrenceville, joined the Strip Trail at 24th Street, rode under the Convention Center and popped over to Occupy Pittsburgh to see what was up. Today was the day that BNY Mellon told the Occupiers to get off the property. Everything there was very calm.

Two television vans were on location in case any news broke out. At first I thought there were small pockets of people-vultures waiting to see a crisis, but then I realized they were the normal smoker-addicts huddled around their approved smoking areas.

There was one policeman in evidence, and he was keeping a very low profile at the corner T-station. I got to hear a few "mike-checks", that was interesting. The Occupiers that I spoke with were positive and courteous, very effective presenters.

They had a poster proclaiming "Joe Hill lives here" and I was happy to see that, I thought people had forgotten Joe Hill. The rest of my ride, in my head I heard Joan Baez singing "I dreamt I saw Joe Hill last night".

When I ride around town I see where people are living under bridges and overpasses and that really doesn't get too much attention, but when a few people publicly challenging the status quo go camping without a license it's a major issue.

Took the Jail Trail to the Hot Metal Bridge, crossed to the Southside Trail and Station Square Trail, took the Ft. Pitt and the Ft. Duquesne bridges. Along the trails today I saw newish mileage markers giving distance from "the Point" along the Casino Trail, the Strip Trail, the Jail Trail, and the Station Square Trail.

It does seem as if the markers are giving mileage to "the Point" based on whatever side of the rivers you're on. For instance, I'd think "the Point" is at Point State Park, but you can be at Mile Marker 0 north of Station Square and be across the river from the Park. It seems like "the Point" is the general nexus of the confluence of the rivers.

Today was warmer than the previous ride, started at 38F and ended at 42F. I skipped the helmet cover but did wear neoprene "booties" (overshoes) and I was nice and warm for the whole ride.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Rode 15 miles in 1h20 min, 30F. Committments to be hither and yon constrained my ride but it was a great short ride on the Montour Trail. One great thing about riding on cold days is that the people you meet are either (1) true believers, (2) nuts, or (3) both.

Today was an experiment in Toe Warmth, or more to the point Avoiding Toe Discomfort. Toe temperatures are diminished by the wind chill (top of the feet) and the effect of the clipless pedal clips (argh!).

I know that proper investigation involves changing one single variable while holding all other factors constant, but I'm more focused on creature comfort so today I implemented two changes. I covered the screen-vents on the top of my shoes with (hi-viz orange) duct tape, and inside of my shoes I wore SealSkinz waterproof / breathable socks which I've had in my bag for quite a while.

The duct tape across the upper vents on the shoes seemed to confer some benefit; my feet stayed warmer, longer. The SealSkinz waterproof socks are more of a moisture barrier than a thermal barrier, and at about the one-hour mark the bottom of my feet were quite cold, which I attribute to the heat sink of the shoe-clip-pedal connection.

I use Crank Brothers pedals and cleats, which provide a fairly direct metal-to-metal connection between my feet and the steel bike frame. I have read that a plastic cleat (ie Look) may be better, and another option is to go with traditional rubber pedals - but I am loath to change pedals and fool with my bike's seat height, which I've pretty much got dialed in.

Friday, December 9, 2011

"REI Southside will again be our sponsor with coffee, hot chocolate, tea and cookies the morning of the ride to help get the ride off in its 4th decade. REI will open at 10:30 a.m. to accommodate those who have last minute ride shopping needs.

"The ride will leave REI at 11 a.m. Parents and small kids can head across Hot Metal Street on the South Side Trail while big people can cross the Hot Metal Bridge and head towards town. The ride will cross the Ft Duquesne Bridge and up the trail to the 16th Street Bridge. From there its down Penn to Smithfield St Bridge and over to the South Side Trail back to REI.

"Ride goes no matter what the weather.Helmets are mandatory.For more information contact Marc Yergin 412-559-0054

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Rode 29 miles in 2h29m, temp 33F on a beautiful sunny day. As I prepared to ride I was resisting the notion of riding in this temperature, but once I got on the bike it was excellent and the sun felt very good.

Started at the Manchester Bastille (Western Penitentiary), rode around the stadia and out to Millvale, deviated through the Lawrenceville neighborhood instead of using Butler Street - I really like the little two-story houses, they're like the Burgh version of shotgun shacks, I could see having one as a pied-à-terre if I was that sort of a person, but I think that I am not.

Took Washington Blvd up to Bakery Square. I stopped near Bakery Square because I was overheating in the climb, I took off the helmet cover and opened my jacket's pit-zips and things got better quickly. Back on the bike and rode to Squirrel Hill.

Stopped at Dunkin Donuts on Forbes at Shady; totally excellent. The interior is classic Dunkin Donuts - the coffee, the pastries and doughnuts - but the sitting area is quite large, couches, tables, wifi, fireplace! This place totally rocks as a caffeine bike destination.

Departing Squirrel Hill on Forbes to Braddock, managing to synchronize my passage with the simultaneous release of every school bus and kiddy-car-pool within range. A very nice crossing guard (in a very high-viz overcoat) actually stopped traffic for me on the bike, that was a first.

Took the Nine Mile Run Trail and the Duck Hollow Trail to Second Avenue, Second Avenue to the Jail Trail. I wanted to go over to the South Side but the sun was descending behind Mt. Washington and so I skipped SouSide and headed north on the Jail Trail.

Crossing the Ft. Duquesne bridge I encountered quite a few black-and-gold-garbed fans on their way to the evening's Steeler game. There were a few tailgating cookouts getting underway.

The ride back to the Bastille was quick. I was joined by a rider on a Soma, nice bike, we discussed sprung saddles and Brooks. The mini-detour north of the Casino is very well marked. I got off the bike at 5pm, a perfect time to take a photo of the Manchester Bastille at sunset.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Arrgghhhhh. I did not ride today. I planned to ride after I had lunch with some friends, and in fact I brought my bike along. The company was good and the time passed by and it was 3pm with sunset at 4:53 and launching into drizzly darkness just challenges my assumptions.

I discovered a new concept on the Google the Internet: Winter Bike To Work Day. How cool an idea is that?

Monday, December 5, 2011

Attended a meeting of the Ohio River Trail Council in Bridgewater that discussed various routes for the Ohio River Trail (ORT).

The southern portion connects Coraopolis and the Montour Trail to Monaca; the northern portion connects Monaca to Rochester, New Brighton, Fallston, Beaver, and west to the Ohio state line.

I got to meet Dr. Vincent Troia, Executive Chairman & CEO of the ORTC (Trail Council) along with several of the consultants working on the project.

An unexpected treat was the presence of Roy Weil, who along with his wife Mary Shaw were the 2004 recipients of REI's annual Stewards for the Environment award. I had the pleasure of meeting Mary Shaw in the spring, and now I've met Roy Weil. It was an honor to shake his hand.

The feasibility study for the southern portion of the ORT has been completed, and that project is now in design and funding phases. Tonight's meeting was about completing the feasibility study for the northern portion.

Sean Garrigan, a principal at trail design firm SGA which specializes in routing trails through industrial areas, gave a brief presentation and explained that the rationale for investing in the trail is twofold: quality of life and economic development. He mentioned a story where trail development infuenced a company's decision on where to place a new location.

In a response to an audience question about security concerns along a new trail route, Sean Garrigan described the demographics of trail users - generally upscale, affluent, and healthy - and the experience his firm has seen in other locations, where design decisions were able to mitigate concerns and there haven't been problems with trail security.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

No bicycling today. Beautiful weather, clear and 55F, but there were higher priority (ie, even more pleasant) duties.

Today does, however, bring news of Bike Surfing, which is a completely different sort of activity than Bike Power Napping.

It seems that "hardcore" bike surfing is done by the bicycle rider themselves, while "softcore" or "kiddy" bike surfing is done by a passenger standing on the rear rack, or in a perfect situation on the rear deck of an ExtraCycle.

In the photo at right, you just know that's not the Mother pedaling, that must be the Cool Barren Aunt who is clueless about children and braces and HMO referrals for orthopedic surgeons.

We look forward to further refinement of the sport into even more obscure niches, such as Fixie Bike Surfing, Recumbent Bike Surfing, Tandem Bike Surfing, and - inevitably - Hipster Bike Surfing.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

I was very pleased and honored to receive this bike-theme gift from a friend yesterday:

This is the officially the Best Bicycle Cake Ever Made. The level of accurate detail is amazing: the brake hoods, the headlight, the water bottle, the cable routing, the rear light, the derailleur routing, the chainring bolts, the cassette on the rear wheel. There's actually a smaller chainring behind the big/outer ring. The bike on the cake matches the paint on my Surly LHT.

Rode 15miles in 1h30m today, from the Cranberry Starbucks to Sewickley Creek Road. I like the ride through the industrial park and out on Warrendale-Bayne Road, it's not congested and there's a couple of hills. I did hit 36.5 mph on one of the descents, that's a little faster than I'll usually go.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Rode 23 miles in 42F (feels-like 36!) but that's not the first story of this blog post.

From ChasingMailboxesDC comes notice of a newly recognized bike activity that I'm all about: Bike Power Napping.

There's even a Flickr group, "Bike Power Nap", that documents various accomplishments.

A power nap is a short sleep which terminates before the occurrence of deep sleep or slow-wave sleep (SWS), intended to quickly revitalize the subject. Scientific experiments and anecdotal evidence suggest that an average power nap duration of around 15–30 minutes is most effective.

Near as I can tell, Bike Power Naps involve

riding your bike somewhere

taking a nap in an incongruous spot

having a picture taken

I've been doing this for a long time. This is a photo of a May 2004 Bike Power Nap along the C&O Canal Tour:

I think the bicycling community needs to embrace Bike Power Naps, and hopefully we can get some corporate sponsorship. Just like RedBull sponsors Extreme Sports that require a high level of energy, I think we could find some sponsors willing to associate with Bike Power Naps — Ambien for one, Serta for two, the possibilities are endless.

Bike Messengers take power naps.Rode 23 miles today, in 42F-ish, which passes for relatively cold given the recent temps. In the context of early December, 42F isn't really extreme.

Rode on the Montour Trail from MP0 in Groveton to the Enlow Five-Points, rode north on the airport connector to the 576 toll road, and then reversed. It was a nice ride although a bit brisk.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Via Biking In Heels — New York City Dept. of Transportation has commissioned artist John Morse to create a series of bike/pedestrian safety signs using haiku to be placed around locations that have an above-average history of car-bike-ped accidents.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Around noon it looked like the rain would blow through, although the weather cells were unusually moving in a south-to-north direction. At 1pm I got out on the bike under a decidedly fugly sky, it was scud-running weather — low ceilings, high gusty winds, no rain but the roads were wet. Good news: 58F. As is often the case, the hardest thing about the ride is the conation, the act of choosing on your own volition to get out there and get on with Rule 5.

I rode to my LBS, world famous Ambridge Bike Shop, to do some shopping and got to wish Head Sherpa Gary B. a Merry Christmas. Then I continued south to the Sewickley Starbucks, facing a headwind but pleased to know I'd have a tailwind on the return.

I stopped at Starbucks, bought a chai tea and lemon cake, several packets of honey went into the jersey pocket, and I sniffed the wifi and read the NYTimes. Read a fascinating article on the reliability of witness testimony due to the nature of human memory. Also enjoyed a profile of Steven Pinker, and a sidebar collection of some Pinkerisms.

One sign that you're spending too much time in coffee shops is when you begin to recognize the regulars to the point of avoiding the onerous ones. Today was the third time I saw one rather talkative gentlemen in the Starbucks, we both look for the padded armchairs, he's prone to recommending authors and in a way I felt that he and I were like Harold Krenshaw and Mr. Monk at their therapist's office.

Came out of the Starbucks and was surprised at how much the weather had improved. Sunny skies, the wind had died (no tailwind on the ride home), it was very nice.

On the second leg I realized how good it was for me to get out on the bike even in the gloomy windy conditions. It's always a good day to ride the bike, sometimes I forget that.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

No riding today. I did have an opportunity to ride for a few hours (in 56F) before the rain was expected, but I took a pass. I've been riding quite a bit and was inclined to take a few days off, so today and the next three rainy days should meet that need.

I've been doing well on the bike, varying routes, riding with others sometime, and I've been really enjoying the bike. I have not been doing well on the eating/weight front.

My self-inflicted downfall is unwarranted food-cruising in the evening, I need to pay attention to that, and so that is my goal for the rest of the year (ok, December).

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Started at the Bastille in Manchester. There's a detour just north of the Casino where an old warehouse is being demolished, the detour is very nicely done. Approaching the stadium, I saw that my normal route was blocked by floodwaters.

I rode via streets and then the trail out to Millvale, and crossed the Allegheny on the 40th Street bridge aka Washington's Crossing. I was intrigued to see the collection of state seals along the footpath, I've never seen them before.

I continued on 40th Street up the hill to Penn, then turned right and rode downtown. I intended to join the trail at the Convention Center, but that whole section was flooded.

I stopped near Occupy Pittsburgh, which seemed quite calm. Two local TV stations were filming what I assume was Thanksgiving in the Camp footage. No visible police presence.

On Blvd of the Allies I saw a vehicle from a Zelionople restaurant, Herbe's Z-Town Cafe, distributing hot meals to the needy. I thought that was most excellent. Turns out that Randy Herbe, owner of the Z-Town Cafe, is part of Feed My Sheep, a volunteer group that provides food, clothing and supplies to homeless and poor people living in the Pittsburgh area.

I joined the Jail Trail at Grant Street. The local trails were very quiet, very few people out. I expected more with the pretty day. Crossed the Mon on the Hot Metal Bridge, rode north to Station Square and across the Ft. Pitt bridge, where I took this picture of flooded Point State Park:

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Rode 37miles around Pittsburgh, trails and roads. Started at the Bastille, rode the Casino Trail around to the 31st Street Bridge, took Butler Street east past the Zoo and turned south on Washington Blvd. No indication of the promised flood gates yet.

Stopped at Bakery Square to visit the Performance Bike store and bought two pair of SmartWool socks, then continued south to Squirrel Hill. Stopped at ProBike to get a mirror but they were out of them. Set out for the well-recommended 61C in search of an indy coffee shop for a coffeenuering interlude, but saw Commonplace Coffeehouse first at 5827 Forbes and stopped there.

This was a fantastic coffee stop. I asked for a large Rwandan #11 coffee, which was described as having "hints of butterscotch". While I was waiting for my coffee a barista handed me a demitasse cup with a half-shot of espresso, and said "Here, try the same coffee as a shot of espresso, it gives you a more balanced sense of the bean". He had me at "here".

The coffee was excellent, and the white chocolate - macadamia nut biscotti was wonderful and complied with the 2011 trend of multiple flavor biscotti. There were a lot of chairs and a lot of wifi going on, they seen to have a system of inviting people to share your table, but the emphasis is not on decor — these people are about coffee. I will stop there again.

Back on the bike, took Forbes east and hit 32 mph while descending toward Frick Park. Took Nine Mile Run trail down to the river, and turned left (east) in an attempt to find the trail that runs between Duck Hollow and the Rankin Bridge. This is the Google-Map depiction of that trail:

I think I was not doing it right, because what I found was a somewhat muddy, primitive trail along the railroad tracks. After a few minutes I reversed course, as shown here:

I took the Duck Hollow Trail to Hazelwood, waited a few minutes for a train to pass, then took Second Avenue to the south terminus of the Jail Trail.

I rode the Jail Trail to the Hot Metal Bridge, stopped at REI (third bike shop of the day, a personal record; noticed that all three were running significant sales, each was running Black Friday a few days early). Took a picture of my bicycle along with the non-denominational Festivus Tree.

Rode south along the Baldwin Borough Trail, noticed that the construction project at the American Water plant seems to be wrapping up. Reversed and rode north to Station Square, crossed the Ft. Pitt bridge while admiring the (unlit?) Point State Park tree. I had planned on riding the Strip District trail but the hour was late and there were hints of rainfall, so I cut the route short and crossed the Ft. Duquesne bridge. Which was good, because it was raining pretty steady by the time I got to my car at the Bastille.

Nov. 20th, and I was riding in shorts and a UnderArmour ColdGear jersey. Although the weather looked ugly, it was really a very nice day for a bike ride.